Cast
Viola/Cesario Taiwo Sokan
Orsino Noah Keyishian
Olivia Sabrina Liu
Toni Leovina Charles
Andrew Spencer McCabe Hunsicker
Maria Abby Huffstetler
Malvolio Henry Greenberg
Sebastian Morgan Nicholas Scott
Fabian Ángel Nieves
Antonio Diego Gonzalez
Captain/Sir Topas Ben McLaren
Valentine Daylon de Alva
Feste Junior Nyong’o
Creative Team
Costume Consultant Jason Chien
Production Stage Manager Abby Stein
Voice and Text Coach/Dramaturg Ursula Meyer
Assistant Director Sashank Kanchustambam
Assistant Stage Manager Shaila Sarathy
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
adapted from William Shakespeareadapted and directed by Cambria Herrera
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The Director
A Note From The Director
Cambria Lorene Herrera is a second-year MFA student from Garden Grove, California. They were most recently based in Oregon, where they co-founded and facilitated The AGE Theatre Collective to empower the resiliency of Portland’s female and non-binary artists of color. UC San Diego credits: Meladi Thive and Her Words of Comfort (WNPF ‘21), Town Hall. Select other credits: King Arthur (AD, World Premiere Adaptation, Long Beach Opera), Yellow, Yellow, Yellow (Director/Co-Producer, Red Balloon Theatre Collective), Romeo and Juliet (Director, Penguin Productions), Peter/Wendy at (Tiger Lily, Bag&Baggage Productions), As One (AD, Portland Opera), and The Balkan Women (Director, George Fox University) for which they were awarded the Meritorious Achievement by Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region 7. Cambria is a graduate of George Fox University, where they earned their BA in Theatre, and is an AGMA Union Member. Full resume/portfolio at cambriaherrera.com There is a 420-year-old legacy of this play with a woman dressing like her male twin and running into silly mishaps while she falls in love with a man. Eventually, her twin re-appears so she changes into her feminine clothes and lives happily ever after with her prince charming.
Knowing I would need to set this play in our modern context, I could not read this script without seeing the harm it could cause to gender queer and trans masculine people like myself and my community. We no longer live in a world where it could be safer for a woman to dress as a man than to live as a woman. The realities of presenting outside of the gender binary in this country are exhilarating at best but deadly at worst. An ending where the character went back to the clothing and pronouns they were assigned at birth in order to be accepted by their
community and their love would not be a happily ever after.
With this adaptation, we experimented with queering Shakespeare’s already gender and sexually queer text. We invite you to the world of the young Cesario, who once went by Viola and she/her pronouns but with the courage that comes from being in a new city with a fresh start is questioning what helps him live his truth. We are expanding on the idea Shakespeare explored that truth might one day turn everything you thought you knew upside down: all is fluid, and in fluidity there is
great power.
Leovina Charles (Toni) is a second-year MFA student. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, she discovered her love for acting at a young age, making her professional theatre debut as Young Nala in The Lion King on Broadway.
Graduating summa cum laude from Howard University with a BFA in Musical Theatre, Leovina is also an alumna of The Maggie Flanigan Studio’s 2-year Meisner Conservatory, and has studied at the British American Drama Academy (BADA) in Oxford, England. UC San Diego credits: End Days (WNPF ‘21), Town Hall. Other select credits: Sonadora (Maribel, Tribeca Film Festival); I Am Antigone (Ismene, Theatre for a New City);
Oresteia (Clytemnestra, BADA); Brooklyn (Young Brooklyn), Passing Strange (Howard University).
Daylon de Alva (Valentine) is a third year transfer student from right here in San Diego. Select credit: She Kills Monsters.
Diego Gonzalez (Antonio) is a second-year theatre major. UC San Diego credits: Epicene, As You Like It. Other credits: Legally Blonde, She Kills Monsters, In the Heights, Peter and the Starcatcher.
Henry Greenberg (Malvolio) is a third-year MFA candidate. Henry originally hails from Nashville, TN and received his undergraduate degree in theatre performance at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. He has spent the past four years working in Chicago and Dallas/Ft.Worth as an actor, while also serving as the literary manager for A Red Orchid Theatre. UC San Diego credits: End Days (WNPF ‘21), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Heap, Ironbound. Select other credits: The Undeniable Sound of Right Now (Raven Theatre); Masque Macabre (Strawdog Theatre); Buried Child (Writers Theatre); Cyrano (BoHo Theatre); Ideation (Jackalope Theatre, Jeff Nomination for Best Ensemble); The Feast (Red Theater); Wastwater (Steep Theatre); The Diary of Anne Frank (Metropolis Arts); Lord of the Flies, The Spark (WaterTower Theatre); Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (Stage West).
The Cast Special Thanks
A special thank you to Preston Choi, Emily Moler, Kristin Leadbetter, Ursula Meyer, Jon Reimer, and Vanessa Stalling
The Cast cont.
Abby Huffstetler (Maria) is a second-year MFA student. She holds a BFA in Performing Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design. Her post- graduate training has earned her certifications in five weapons within The Society of American Fight Directors, recognizing her achievements as an Actor Combatant. UC San Diego credits: End Days (WNPF ‘21), Uncle Vanya. Regional credits: How to Defend Yourself (Humana Festival of New American Plays, Actors Theatre of Louisville); Dracula, The Many Deaths of Nathan Stubblefield (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Free Free Free Free (Exponential Festival); Noises Off (Rome Little Theatre). Film credits: Dirt, CBGB. Huffstetler is a former Actors Theatre Professional Training Company Acting Apprentice.
Spencer McCabe Hunsicker (Andrew) is a second-year MFA student from Salt Lake City, UT and holds a BFA in acting from Brigham Young University. UC San Diego credits: Prepared (WNPF ‘21), Uncle Vanya.
Regional credits: Mary Stuart (Pioneer Theatre Company); Sweeney Todd:
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Noorda Center); Daddy Long Legs (Hale Center Theatre Orem); This is Our Youth (SLC Fringe); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night (Creekside Theatre Festival). BYU credits: Servant of Two Masters, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Crucible, The Mill on the Floss, The Mousetrap, Company.
Noah Keyishian (Orsino) is a second-year MFA student from Bloomfield, New Jersey. UC San Diego credits: Prepared (WNPF ‘21), A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Select other credits: Are You There? (Humana Festival of New American Plays); Tell the Truth, A Christmas Carol, Dracula, The Brief History of Francois Le Chou Chou (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Favors (Manhattan Repertory Theater). Film credits: Happy Yummy Chicken, That Thing I Had That One Time, Status-Driven, Sasquatch, Separation Celebration, Wax Lover’s Playlist.
Sabrina Liu (Olivia) is a second-year MFA student. She is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and holds a BA in Government and Psychology with minors in Inequality Studies and Theatre from Cornell University. UC San Diego credits: End Days (WNPF ‘21), Town Hall. Regional credit: Electra (National Women’s Theatre Festival, Fringe ‘21). Cornell credits: The Wolves, Tartuffe, The Awakening of Spring, Bad Jews, Baltimore, Eurydice, Two Truths and Allie.
Ben McLaren (Captain/Sir Topas) is a fourth-year BA student from the Bay Area with a focus in acting and directing. UC San Diego credits: Weirdo (or Make Nice) (Company 157), AHC (LAB Project ‘20), The Nether, Balm in Gilead, Sonnets for an Old Century, Our Town. Other credits: A Christmas Carol, Sweeney Todd, The Music Man.
Ángel Nieves (Fabian) is a third-year transfer student, majoring in theatre and minoring in Chicanx Latinx studies. UC San Diego credits: PIA (Chicanx Teatro Ensemble), Trojan Women. Other credits: The Fall of the City (Company 157); Sparks Showcase (Sparks Theatre Company); Take Back Graffiti Hall (Found Space).
Junior Nyong’o (Feste) is a second-year MFA student. He was born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya and holds a BA in Theatre and Digital Arts from Stetson University. UC San Diego credits: Meladi Thive and Her Words of Comfort (WNPF ‘21), A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Regional credits:
Hamlet, Gertrude and Claudius, Twelfth Night, Shakespeare in Love, Man of La Mancha (Orlando Shakes).
Morgan Nicholas Scott (Sebastian) is a second-year MFA student. He is from Chicago, IL, but grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, D.C. He holds a BA in Theatre from The University of Maryland. UC San Diego credits: End Days (WNPF ‘21), Uncle Vanya.
Regional credits: Bonnie & Clyde: The Musical (Monumental Theatre Company); Amazing Grace: The Musical (Museum of the Bible); PYG, or The Misedumacation of Dorian Bell (Studio Theatre); Little Shop of Horrors (Constellation Theatre Company); The Snowy Day (Adventure Theatre).
National Tour: Amazing Grace: The Musical (1st National Tour).
Taiwo Sokan (Viola/Cesario) is a second-year MFA student. She was born in Nigeria, raised in New Jersey and holds a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Pennsylvania. She has worked extensively in Philadelphia as an actor, stage manager, and theatre technician. UC San Diego credits: Farside (WNPF ‘21), Town Hall. Regional credits: Marry, Marry, Quite Contrary (Paper Dolls Ensemble); Operation Wawa Road Trip, Fly Eagles Fly (Tribe of Fools); The Bluest Eye (u/s, Arden Theatre Company); All Well That Ends Well (University of Pennsylvania); No Exit (Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble);
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Limelight Theatre Company).
Tour credits: Peter Rabbit Tales (Enchantment Theatre Company); Devised:
Naked Knotted Neurons (UPenn Players). An experienced deviser, she has also premiered works with Tribe of Fools, Paper Doll Ensemble, and the UPenn Players, the latter of which premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
The Cast cont.
The Creative Team
Jason Chien (Costume Consultant) is a fourth-year international studies BA/MIA student and theatre minor from Taipei, Taiwan. UC San Diego credits: Peerless (WIP-ACD), Trojan Women (CD).
Sashank Kanchustambam (Assistant Director) is a third-year BA theatre major from Chandigarh, India. UC San Diego credits: AHC (Choreographer, LAB Project ‘20), Backwaters (WNPF ‘21), A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Man In Love. Playwriting credits: We Were Kids (Sparks Theatre Company).
Short Film credits: 98 Days at a Time, Choice Creates, Re-Exam, Nadartine (Writer & Director).
Ursula Meyer (Voice and Text Coach/Dramaturg) has studied voice with Cicily Berry, Patsy Rodenburg, Andrew Wade, Arthur Lessac and Kristen Linklater. She graduated from the Advanced Voice Studies Program at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London and is a designated Linklater Teacher. Before coming to UC San Diego, she taught Voice/
Speech and Text at the UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, University of Washington, and four years at the Yale School of Drama. As a professional Voice and Accent Coach, Meyer has worked at numerous regional theatres including the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, South Coast Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, the La Jolla Playhouse, and the Idaho, Santa Cruz, Utah, and Oregon Shakespeare Festivals where she has been working off and on since 1985. As a professional actress, she has worked extensively in regional theatre, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, A.C.T. Seattle, the Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, and the La Jolla Playhouse. In 2007, she was a recipient of UC San Diego’s Saltman Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award.
Abby Stein (Production Stage Manager) is a fourth-year BA theatre major from Orange County, California. She has had an amazing time working in person with the amazing cast and crew, and would like to thank Cambria, Shaila, and Lora for all their incredible help and work. UC San Diego credits: Meladi Thive and Her Words of Comfort (ASM, WNPF ‘21), Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play (PA).
Shaila Sarathy (Assistant Stage Manager) is a third-year theatre minor and this is her second production with UC San Diego. She had an amazing experience in her first in-person department show and learned so much from Cambria, the cast and Abby. UC San Diego credit: Meladi Thive and her Words of Comfort (PA, WNPF ‘21).
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